The present invention relates to tie mounts, and, in particular, to elongated, semi-rigid tie mounts of a type having a generally rectangular, U-shaped cross-sectional central portion.
Tie mounts are well-known in the art. One popular type consists of a long, round, slender rod, or shaft, having a disk-shaped head at one end and a smooth rounded tip at the other. Such tie mounts may be composed of metal or plastic and may be said to resemble a long nail or a long knitting needle of the type used in knitting wool garments.
The above-described tie mount is designed to receive over its rounded tip a slidable, apertured spring disk retainer which is forceably slid along the slender rod or shaft in a direction toward the disk-shaped head. The primary function of the tie mount is to retain an object, or a number of objects, compressed between the disk-shaped head and the slidable spring disk retainer.
The apertured spring disk retainer is designed to have a central aperture which consists of a pair of opposing, inclined teeth, the semi-circular biting ends of which define the aperture or opening which slides over the rounded tip and along the length of the long, round, slender rod.
The spring disk retainer must be correctly oriented when placed over the rounded tip of the tie mount to insure that it may be slidably advanced along the length of the rod as the biting teeth of the disk retainer grip the rounded surface of the rod. Any force tending to remove the spring disk retainer, when once secured on the rod, causes the inclined biting teeth to bite into the surface of the rod to resist removal of the retainer. The surface of the long, slender rod may be smooth or it may be serrated or notched.
Another type of tie amount is integrally molded of a plastic or polymer material having a head at one end, a rectangular tip or tongue at the other end and an elongated, generally U-shaped cross-sectional central portion between the head and tongue. A longitudinal array of serrated teeth is situated within the bottom or trough portion of the central U-shaped portion. The array of serrated teeth projects upwardly from the bottom trough and is designed to interlock with a downwardly extending set of teeth molded within a slidable apertured disk retainer.
The present invention pertains to this latter type of integrally molded tie mount, and especially to improvements in such tie mounts, to prevent incorrect and unsatisfactory attachment of the slidable, apertured disk retainer upon the elongated U-shaped cross-sectional central portion.